Broadway Lodge is proud to announce support for International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD), a global event held each year on the 31st of August with the aim of raising awareness of overdose across the world and reducing the stigma of drug-related death.
By remembering those whom we’ve lost, and promoting another way, we can spread the message that the tragedy of drug overdose death can be prevented by appropriate and timely intervention.
Drug use, even at its most minimal, has the potential to spiral out of control and damage not only the lives of users, but of those who care about them too. All too often, drug use can lead to a dangerous pushing of the limits.
In Europe alone, each year there are approximately 11,880 deaths attributed to overdose. Worldwide, those numbers balloon to an estimated minimum of 190,000 people per annum dying avoidable deaths from overdose.
It is a truly astonishing figure, and one that should concern everyone, yet too often we find that drug users are not treated with the compassion and care they desperately need. It is an horrific and shameful notion, but for vast swathes of the population, drug addicts are ‘other’ people who, through their own fault, have somehow let their lives fall apart.
Indeed, the lack of understanding about addiction contributes hugely to a situation where this public epidemic is able to play out, with little outcry. That’s why the International Overdose Awareness Day was created.
Alongside spreading information about overdose, how to spot it and how to effectively deal with it, International Overdose Awareness Day seeks to:
- Provide those who’ve lost loved ones to overdose the chance to mourn, without feeling guilt
- Include as many people as possible in IOAD events
- Send a message to current and former drug addicts that they are valued and recognised
- Stimulate global discussion regarding drug policy
- Provide basic information about the services that are available to drug addicts in their local communities
- Prevent and reduce drug-related harm by supporting evidence-based policy
- Remind people of the risks of overdose
At Broadway, we will be working hard to promote awareness as part of International Overdose Awareness Day. The more lives saved, the more people have the chance of recovery and rehabilitation.
As an abstinence-based treatment facility we deliver the most effective means of reducing overdose by supporting people into total abstinence and recovery in which the risk of overdose is completely eliminated. If you would like to support our work you can donate here in the knowledge that your contribution will go to a treatment model that delivers the very best outcomes for the addict, her/his family, the community and society at large.
Also, hopping on to Twitter to promote the #OverdoseAware2017 hashtag or sharing a tribute to those you’ve lost through addiction, or championing abstinence-based recovery, can be a tremendous help in raising awareness.
Join us in helping to raise awareness of drug overdose and save lives. Then we can help change lives and communities for the better. August 31st – remember the date.
